Jesse W. Reno's full name was Jesse Wilford Reno.

Jesse W. Reno was born August 4, 1861, Leavenworth,Kansas.

In 1883 he graduated from Lehigh University's engineering program.

At Lehigh he had been involved in many activities, outside of his engineering classes. He was in the Engineering Society, a member of Chi Phi, President of that fraternity's Lawn Tennis Club, Class Historian, editor for the Epitome in 1882, and he sang second tenor in the University Choir. He was also a right-fielder for the University baseball team, and Pitcher and Captain for the '82 team.

He spent his early life in midwestern and southern states; when he was sixteen years old his family moved to Americus, Georgia where he began constructing early plans for his "inclined elevator.

Jesse W. Reno built the escalator but did not come up with the idea. Nathan Ames patented the first escalator in 1859 when he came up with the idea for revolving stairs. However, he never made a working model of his concept. That's where years later Jesse W. Reno swooped in and made the first working escalator.

He invented the first working escalator in 1891 and was introduced into the National Inventers Hall of Fame. Jesse W. Reno purposely invented the escalator. It wasn't a byproduct of something else.

The Reno Imclined Elevator displayed first at Coney Island and later at the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge was born into history only after its creator received a major professional setback. In the early part of 1896, Jesse W. Reno submitted extensive plans to New York City officials to build a double-decker subway system beneath the city's streets. His plans included designs for inclined elevators to transport passengers from street to underground station. His plans were rejected, but his ideas survived.

Within five years following its showcase at Coney Island, Reno's machine was finding its way into dozens of department stores and railway stations in the Northeast United States and England.

Jesse W. Reno died on June 2, 1947.

Many people improved the escalator to soon become the ones we see today. These are some of them, 1900 Otis's first step-type escalator made for public use, is installed at the Paris Exhibition,

1902 Jesse Reno founded the Reno Electric Stairways and Conveyors company,

1910 Otis Elevator Company buys Seeberger patent and "Escalator" trademark,

1921 Otis engineers, led by David Lindquist, add improvements resulting in today's escalator.

The escalator has improved so much from after Jesse W. Reno built it.

The escalator runs smoother than it did in its earlier stages. It also runs much faster. Another thing the escalator can do better is hold much more weight.

This is what a modern day escalator looks like